A 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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LAWYER 
0ALLA5.  TEXAS 


a  0,  BAK£K 

LAWYER 

OALIAS.  TEXAS 


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» 


448521 


(     ta     to 
tarn  tern  stem 
et  met  mat 

most  tost  tast 

set  sets  Stat 


pa  past  post 

I 
pet   pat  tap 

pan  step  spas 

pep  spec  spoc 


-^.^^-i^SS 


^ 


^ 


^m.®^^tmM 


au 

se 
sau 


aa 


sa  saa 

so    soo 


ne   nanaa 
nau  no  noo 


^  m  m  m  m  m  #  ^ 


^^- 


:^ 


:^Z^\\ 


^j^(?ei    DSt? 


mmm 


se  me  sit  up 
sit  on  thi  mat 
put  on  this  cap 
sit  on  thi  step 
tac  up  thi  mat 
met  me  at  noon 
niac  thi  top  spin 
sam  must  not  sta 


t**i! 


sam  can  et  a  nut 
set  me  on  thi  step 
tac  that  cac  tu  sam 
tom  tuc  a  pes  tu  et 
put  nuts  in  thi  pan 
thi  cat  tuc  thi  met 
nan-si  sau  us  scat 
min-i  sau  me  scip 


torn  can  spin  thi  top 
pus  ma  et  sum  met 
too  cats  on  thi  mat 
tac  sum  nuts  tu  sam 
put  sum  met  tu  cue 
maa  ma  set  thi  te 
thi  cat  tuc  thi  met 
tac  too  nuts  tu  sami 
tha  sau  thi  sun  set 


^^^^^i&^M^^*iiH4^^l^ 


1      Q}, 
mi    toi 

mit  coi 


ow 
now 
cow 


u 

nu 
pu 


nis   com  sow    cut 

smit 

tim 

pin 


in  /town  su 
iMt/^  nown  sut 
owt     mut 


spin^Mi^^powt  tun 
spit \ wl3  s to wt  s t u 
thi  i&  scowt  pus 
thin  -ife^cownt  scu 


& 


<T? 


m 


w 
we 
wa 
wac 
wen 
wet 
west 
w^auc 
w^in 
w^in 
swin 
swim 


y 

y^ 
ya 

yon 

yet 

yot 

yes 

yam 

yoc 

yaun 

hu 


h 
he 
hat 
haa 
hauc 
hom 
hoo 
hi 

hoist 
how^ 
hw^ot 
hw^en 


1 

pet     bet 
pop    bob 
pep    bub 
pit     bit 
put    biic 
pop   bon 
spec  bee 
spot  bat 
spat  best 
past  bast 


tan    dan 
tarn  dam 
tip     dip 
tuc    due 
tern  dem 
set     sed 
set     sed 
bet    bed 
net    ned 
stop  stud 


448521 


cam  gam 
sac     saa 


pic 
cap 
cot 
pec 

stac 


pig 

gap 
got 

P^g 
stag 


cum  oum 


caut 


n£ 


m 


sa 


cu 


van 

vat 

vin 

vim 

sav 

si  V 

GOV 


moov 


trn^u 


mm 


thin      then 
th  au  t   th  6 


them 

6th 

both 

sooth 

sovv^th 

mith 


sun  zon 
nest  zest 
pes    pez 
tost  toz 
nots  noz 
bets  bez 
mats  maz 
sacs  sagz 


as 

sho  cash 
shoo  WIS 
shop  busi 
sham  fish 
ship  (dash 
shun  push 

vizh-on 


^ 


mmmmmm^s^mm 


can  u 
et    ten  wurdz  ? 


for  lit-1  chics 
aul  waucing  in  a  ro 
iz  not  that  a  prit-i  wa 
for  lit-1  chics  tu  go? 

fiv  lit-1  duc-lingz 
aul  wob  ling  in  a  ro 
iz  not  that  a  fun-i  wa 
for  lit-1  dues  tu  go^ 


^^ 


thi  cat  can  jump 
az  hi  az  thi  pump 
thi  dog  can  jump 
cwit  o-vur  thi  pump 

wun  thing  at  a  tim 
and  that  dun  wel 
iz  a  ver-i  gud  rool 
az  men-i  can  tel 


-^h- 


«v^o«^ooooo^i&^ 


mi   lit-1  gurl 
with  brush  and  pan 
haz  mad  thi  hows 
luc  spic  and  span 
and  hw^en  tw^oz  clen 
and   aul  w^oz  throo 
she    luct  a-bowt 
for  mor  tu  doo 


66 


-1^ 


13 


1) 


68 


\/         V  V  V  V  V  V 

wurc  hwil   u  wurc 
pla   hwil   u  pla 
this    iz  thi  wa 
tu   be  hap-i   and  ga 
aul    that  u  doo  _ 
doo  with  ur  mit 
thingz  dun  bi  haavz 
ar    nev-ur   dun   rit 
wun  thing  at  a  tim 
and  that  dun  wel 
iz  a  ver-i  gud  rool 
az   men-i   can  tel 
moments    ar    us-les 
trif-ld    a-wa 
so  wurc  hwil   u  wurc 
and  ola    hwil   u  pla 


down  in  a  gren  and  shad-i  bed 

a  modest   vi  o-let  groo 

its  stauc  woz  bent  it  hung  its  bed 

az  if  tu  bid  from    vu 

and  yet  it  woz  a  luv-li  flow-ur 

its   cul-or  brit  and  far 

it  mit  bav  grast  a  roz-i  bow-ur 

in-sted  ov   biding  thar 


and   yet  it  woz  con-tent  tu  bloom 

in    mod- est  tints    a-rad 

and  tliar  di-fuzd  its  swet  purfum 

witb-in    its    si-lent   sbad 

tben  let  me   tu   tbi   val-i  go 

tbis  prit-i  flow-ur    tu    se 

tbat  i   ma    aul-so    lurn   tu  gro 

in    swet   bu-mil-i-ti 


s  sSSS 

mmmm 
t  tttt 

nnnnn 

ppppp 

e  eee6 

6  OOOO 


A   lit-I  far-mur   boi  i  am, 
tu   la-bur  hard   I   ffnd   i  can, 
az   much   az  if  i   wur  a   man. 


Ml  wurc  tu   me  iz  fun   and  pla, 
o!  I'm  so  hap-i  ev-ri  da, 
hwen  tu  ml  wurc  f'm  on  mi  wa. 


"^^^^^^^ir^ 


Az   tu   ml  wurc  I  go  a-long, 
i  doo  not  stop  tu  doo  wun  rong, 
but  b5ld-li  sing  ml  morn-ing  song 


At  ev-ning  I  can  troo-li  sa, 
t±iat  !'v  bin  us-ful  aul  thi  da, 
and  hav  not  thron  mT  tim  awa. 


1  no  I  fel  much  bet-ur  then, 
yes,  bet-ur  far  than  ten  timz  ten 
az   men-j    id-1   jent-l-men. 

i  hav  a   bet-ur  ap-e-tit, 

1  slep  much  bet-ur  ev-ri  nit, 

and  in  thi  morn-ing  fel  so  brit. 


And  now  mi  child  I'l  tel  mi  plan 
Fl  aul-waz  wurc,  for  nev-ur  can 
I   be   an    Id-I  jent-1-man. 


£:j 


^ 


''Z-^Oo.^z^ 


Is  it  possible  to  make  the  acquirement  of  reading  easy  and  pleasant  ? 

It  is  not,  if  the  child  degins  its  instruction  with  our  lawless  and  per- 
plexing orthography. 

Is  it  possible  to  make  instruction  in  reading  so  thorough  and  efficient, 
that  it  shall,  while  being  easy  and  pleasant,  include  drill  in  correct  pro- 
nunciation, clear  enunciation,  and  proper  modulation,  resulting  in  that 
much-to-be-desired  acquirement,  distinct  and  pleasant  speech  ? 

It  is  not  possible,  so  long  as  the  present  alphabet  and  existing  spell- 
ing are  employed,  because  the  forty  sounds  of  English  speech  cannot  be 
represented  by  the  twenty-six  letters  of  the  Roman  alphabet,  which  have 
642  different  significations  ;  as,  for  example,  using  a  for  different  sounds, 
\n  fade,  fall,  fal,  father,  any,  want,  Isaac;  while  the  ioxiy  sounds  of  the 
language  are  represented  in  not  less  than  615  different  ways;  as,  for 
example,  the  sound  of  o,  in  so,  no,  etc.,  differently  in  boat,  doe,  know, 
s7vord,  towards,  shew,  beau,  though,  owe,  hauteur,  Bordeaux,  oglio,  yolk, 
depot,  brooch,  sewed,  bone,  Pharaoh,  Soane,  Knowles,  Cockburn,  etc. 

To  help  the  child,  or  the  foreign-born  student,  to  master  this  confu- 
sion, lexicographers  considerately  offer  their  help.  Note  how  !  Finding 
that  the  letters,  especially  the  vowels,  have  varied  powers,  they  attempt 
to  give  reliability  to  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  by  the  use  of  diacritic 
marks,  so  that  a  letter  marked  in  a  given  way  stands  for  a  definite  sound, 
just  as  a  figure  represents  one  and  always  the  same  power. 

Five  dictionary-makers  take  the  following  way  to  overcome  the  per- 
plexities of  English  spelling,  as  far  as  the  vowels  are  concerned  : 

I 


_     NV 

"An  Alphabet  will  be  perfect  if  the| 
Onumber  of  its   symbols  corresponds| 
yiko  the  number  of  its  simple  sounds, 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 


%:A 


Jif-^ 


aaaaaaaaaa^/aaaaaaa 

eeeeee  eeeeeye  ew  e  e  e  e  t-  e  e 

i  I  1  i  I  I  i  T  i 

60660  0*0  odboooooooioy  ow  61  6y  6u  6w  o 

ijuuuuuuiiuijiju 

y  y  y  y  y 

Seeing  there  are  but  twelve  simple  vowels  and  four  diphtliongs  in 
English  speech,  the  learner  may  well  be  appalled  at  the  task  of  mastering 
so  complex  a  scheme  as  here  presented,  and  assumed  to  be  necessary  to 
interpret  the  anomalies  of  our  orthography.  It  clearly  points  to  tlie  rem- 
edy ;  a  full  and  efficient  Alphabet ;  a  letter  or  a  diagraph  for  each  sound 
of  the  language,  with  an  unvarying  power.  This  is  the  plain  and  simple 
remedy  for  the  confusion  of  the  existing  spelling.  Without  using  any 
letters  beyond  those  furnished  by  the  Roman  alphabet ;  by  giving  the 
vowel  signs  a,  e,  i,  0,  u,  their  most  frequent  powers,  and  by  employing 
six  diacritic  marks  to  indicate  their  longer  sounds,  the  difficulty,  with 
respect  to  the  vowels,  is  met.  The  only  exception  is  in  the  employ- 
ment of  ti,  where  a  distinction  must  be  made  between  the  //,  in  l>i<t ;  the 
//,  in  /«/;  and  that  in  tune.  The  open  vowel  in  alms,  father,  etc.,  is 
indicated,  as  in  (lerman,  by  aa  :  while  that  in  faun,  talk,  etc.,  is  uni- 
formly represented  by  r/w.  The  diphthongal  glides,  7,  i)/,  <77£»,  as  heard  in 
time,  toil,  town,  present  noditticulty  when  represented  as  here  indicated. 

The  following  is  an  orderly  arrangement  of  the  vowels,  or  unoi)- 
structed  Vocals  of  the  English  language  : 

LONG  VOWELS, 
e  a  aa  au 

as  in  meet,         mate,  alms,  fall, 

SHORT  \()WELS. 
i  e  a  o 

as  in  pit,  pet,  pat,  pot, 

2 


0 

00 

fold, 

fool 

U 

11 

but, 

put. 

'Ai^ 


C'lt  is  remarkable  that  a  nation 

•^  idistinguished  for  its  eruditic" 

ishould  tolerate   these    enormi 

^ies."  Imperial  Dictionary. 


DIPHTHONGAL  GLIDES. 


1 
as  in  fine, 


Ol 

foil, 


ow 

found, 


U 
feud. 


Here  are  six  diacritic  markings  and  five  diagraphs,  as  against  S6  in 
the  above  suggestions,  and  they  are  all  that  are  necessary  to  provide  for  a 
truthful  representation  of  English  vowels.  Two  diagraphs,  as  will  be 
seen,  must  be  used  to  complete  the  representation  of  the  long  vowels  ; 
aa  for  the  vowel  in,  ahns,  fatlier,  etc.,  and  au,  to  indicate  the  vowel  in 
all,  talk,  etc.  The  former  should  never  be  called  douhle-a,  or  the  latter, 
a-you,  but  each  diagraph  must  be  pronounced  as  a  simple  vowel-sound, 
as  heard  in  the  words  above  given. 

The  two  coalescents,  rv,  y,  are  E,xplosive  Vocals.  These  sounds 
are  usually  defined  as  "sometimes  vowels  and  sometimes  consonants," 
when  in  fact  they  are  neither.  They  are  unlike  vowels,  in  that  they  are 
not  wholly  unobstructed  sounds,  and  they  cannot  be  prolonged,  or  sung, 
but  are  exploded  like  consonants  ;  and  they  are  unlike  consonants  in  that 
they  never  occur  in  English,  as  final  sounds  in  syllables  or  words.  If 
the  reader,  instead  of  naming  them  double-you  and  zuye,  will  pronounce 
their  true  powers,  (roughly  indicated  by  wuh,  yuh,)  each  one,  several 
times,  he  will  have  a  correct  appreciation  of  their  relative  values,  namely 
that  w,  is  an  explosive  vocal,  pronounced  with  the  organs  in  the  <'<i  posi- 
tion, and  that  J'  is  a  like  explosive  vocal,  pronounced  with  the  organs  in 
the  e  position. 

One  aspirate,  indicated  by  h,  completes  the  scale  of  Unobstructed 
English  sounds.  In  use  the  aspirate  is  an  unobstructed,  audible  breath- 
ing, used  before  simple  vowels,  diphthongs,  and  coalescents,  (in  Welsh, 
preceding  /,  in  Spanish  and  Arabic,  preceding  ;-, )  and  necessarily  varies 
in  sound  as  it  is  modified  by  the  position  of  the  organs  and  the  quality  of 
the  vocal  it  precedes.  The  reader  will  readily  understand  the  varied 
quality  of  sound  represented  by  this  one  letter,  if  he  will  deliberately  pro- 

3 


iAyVA^^r^ur  orthoeraohv  is  a  masf;  nf^  .-'^^'"'^'^ 


.X 


Our  orthography  is  a  mass  o: 
nomalies,  the  result  of  igno- 
rance and  chance." 

Bishop  Thirwall. 


iiouiice  the  words  heel,  and  hall,  afterwards  haw,  then  hoo,  (who),  then 
■wheel  (really  h'weel)  and  finally  hue,  and  he  will  perceive  that  h,  tiiougii 
used  to  indicate  all  these  very  unlike  sounds,  uniformly  represents  an 
audible  breathing  through  the  position  of  the  organs  necessary  to  produce 
any  unobstructed,  or  only  partially  obstructed  vocal  sound,  as  w,  y,  /,  or 
trilled  ;-.  The  aspirate,  (/^)  slightly  vocalized,  becomes  a  Sigh;  fully 
vocalized  it  is  a  (iroan,  and  in  a  higher  pitch  of  tone  it  becomes  a  Scream 
or  a  Shriek.  The  aspirate  (//)  slightly  vocalized,  in  the  ;//  or  n  position, 
becomes  a  Moan,  through  a  vowel  position,  such  as  a,  (fate)  or  o,  (owe) 
it  becomes  a  IVail. 

CONSOA'ANTS. 

\\'liile  the  Vowels  are  unobstructed  sounds,  the  distinctive  (juality 
being  due  to  the  more  or  less  open  position  of  the  vocal  organs,  the  Con- 
sonants of  the  language  are  produced  by  an  explosive  breathing  through 
a  more  or  less  obstructed  passage,  due  mainly  to  the  position  of  the  tongue. 
The  sounds  thus  produced  may  be  defmed  as  Noises,  consisting  of  hisses, 
buzzes,  puffs,  sniffs,  trills,  and  lingual,  dental,  and  gutteral  explosions, 
either  as  audible  breath,  (i.  e.  whispered)  or  voiced,  that  is,  with  a  vibra- 
tion of  the  vocal  chords.  These  are  thoroughly  unmusical  sounds  when 
uttered  as  elements,  but  when  preceded  or  followed  by  unobstructed  and 
comparatively  musical  vozuels,  they  make  up  our  wondrously  complex, 
sonorous,  and  expressive  language. 

The  Consonants  of  English  speech  are  naturally  arranged  and  class- 
ified as  follows  : 

EXPLODEAT^. 


as  m  pip 
"  "  bib 
"   "  tight 

"   "  died 


ch  as 


in  church 
"  judge 
"  cake 
"  gag 


"No  philological  scholar  of  eminence 
|in  England  or  America  can  be  named 
Ijwho  is  not  an  out  and  out  advocate  of 
7/the  simplification  of  our  spelling.  Ajr/zy, 


CONTINUANTS. 


f    as 

in  fife 

s    ♦'   "  sops 

V     " 

"  valve 

z    "   "  zones 

th  " 

"  thigh 

sh  "   "  sure 

ih  " 

"  thy 

LIQUIDS. 

zh  "   "  vision 

1  as  in  lull                            r 

as  HI  roar 

NASALS. 

m,  as  in  mame                 n,  as  in  nine 

ng,  as  in  sing 

For  convenience  of  naming  these  elements,  a  vowel-sound  is  usually 
employed,  preceding  or  following  the  consonantal  element,  as  pe,  be,  ef, 
ve,  ess,  ze,  jay,  kay,  etc.,  but  as  the  vowel  is  no  part  of  the  consonant,  that 
alone  should  reach  the  child's  ear  and  be  associated  with  the  sign  used 
for  its  representation,  (jood  reading  and  speaking  are  not  to  be  attained 
without  the  distinct  and  precise  utterance  of  these  explosive  elements, 
first  by  the  teacher,  then  by  the  pupil. 

As  there  are  no  separate  letters  in  the  present  alphabet  to  represent 
ch,  as  in  cheer ;  th,  as  in  thigh  ;  th,  as  in  thy  ;  sh,  as  in  sure  ;  or  zh,  as 
in  vision,  or  the  final  itg,  as  in  sing,  the  customary  digraphs  may  still  be 
employed.  The  typic  inconsistency  of  representing  elementary  sounds  by 
double  letters  must  be  explained  to  the  child  by  saying  that  there  are,  at 
present,  no  single  letters  to  represent  them  (!). 

Doubtless  a  more  philosophic  representation  of  the  language  woukl 
be  obtained  by  providing  a  separate  letter  for  each  elementary  sound  ; 
but  numberless  experiments  during  the  past  century  have  shown  that  the 
seventeen  typic  additions  that  would  have  to  be  made  to  the  alphabet, 
would  introduce  hybrid  and  ugly  forms,  so  that  the  eye,  accustomed  to 
the  symmetrical  and  beautiful  forms  of  the  existing  alphabet,  would  not 
accept  them.     A  still  greater  barrier  to  an  extended  alphabet  would  be 


J-u-ni  i\7J//0/:>//'j"; r'SVrli/l^jh'jj cfhrf(t/ini>/I^J^ul'^^ 


1{'}\LJCT^ l'9l\  ^'''>'^-^'ff"l':('^  '?i/mx(:?/(njm  cvViridz./uii  Itn 


fmJiL      \  n\      '  VC^IIIIK  ate  lllfl  HU/((liJV/l  VII  rriiiii^.  ini^  1 1 1, 
5«ps  ^^\,i'n..ii/Tini(/io dft/i -/^'-Afifi, /ncfpifm M'cDc/idic 


the  fact  that  printing-offices  have  only  the  Roman  letters,  and  would  not, 
while  there  is  no  demand,  be  at  the  trouble  and  expense  of  obtaining 
new  and  untried  forms. 


SOUNDS  AND  THEIR  NAMES. 

It  is  of  prime  importance,  that  the  teaclier  should  be  master  of  the 
sounds  for  which  the  letters  stand.  Usually  the  child  is  not  taught  the 
sounds  the  letters  stand  for,  but  is  mystified  by  being  told  their  historic 
names,  which,  in  many  cases,  have  no  relation  whatever  to  their  actual 
values,  as  heard  in  words.  W  hat,  for  example,  has  the  sound  of  the 
word  double-owe  to  do  with  the  short  vowel  sound  heard  \n  put,  foot, 
etc.,  or  double-yew  with  the  initial  explodent-vocal  in  tve,  way,  etc.,  or 
what  has  wye  to  do  with  the  final  sound  in  beauty,  pity,  etc.,  or 
what  could  be  further  from  suggesting  the  final  lingual-dental  explosive 
noise  heard  in  oath,  myth,  etc.,  than  by  calling  it  tee-aitch?  Many 
teachers  fail  to  see,  till  special  attention  is  called  to  the  subject,  that  it  is 
utterly  absurd  to  expect  a  child  to  say  WE,  when  the  teacher  says,  "  what 
does  double-you-e  spell  ?  "  Or  for  the  child  to  say  good,  after  the  teacher 
has  said  ^"^ gee- double-owe  dee y  A  little  reflection  will  convince  the  in- 
structor that  the  customary  naming  of  letters  is  nothing  short  of  mystifica- 
tion, tending  to  distract  the  child's  ear  from  the  true  sounds  of  letters, 
and  its  eye  from  their  association  with  the  sounds  they  are  used  to  repre- 
sent. 

Spelling,  phonetically  considered,  is  but  separating  the  elementary 
sounds,  and,  as  it  were,  stretching  out  a  word,  just  as  a  piece  of  rubber 
may  be  stretched,  which,  when  released  from  the  pull,  resumes  it  natural 
length.  Phonetic  spelling  .should  be  regularly  insisted  on,  as  by  this  exer- 
cise alone  can  the  teacher  be  assured  that  the  pupil  knows  the  correct 
sounds  contained  in  a  word. 

6 


'The   present  spelling  establishes  a^ 
barrier   against  the  most  important| 
agent  in  the  civilization  and  Christi- 
fanization  of  the  world."A.D.White« 

LsgS 


DIPHTHONGAL  GLIDES. 

As  set  down  in  most  phonetic  works  and  modern  dictionaries,  i, 
in  tinw,  eye,  is  said  to  be  a  compound  of  ah-e ;  o-c,  as  in  no-a,  our,  is 
defmed  as  a  compound  of  ah-oo  ;  while  //,  is  said  to  be  a  compound  of 
e-oo  or  y-oo.  These  sounds  are  vocal  glides,  whose  initial  and  final 
elements  are  only  approximately  indicated  by  the  above  letters.  /,  and 
u,  are,  as  yet,  variously  pronounced  by  the  English  speaking  race.  The 
late  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  insisted  on  using  e-i,  for  long  /.•  thus  he  wrote 
Eizac,  which  probably  indicates  the  customary  English  usage,  but  Amer- 
icans, very  generally  would  prefer  n-i  to  indicate  the  glide  of  vocal  posi- 
tion in  the  utterance  of  this  diphthong.  But  experience  has  shown  that 
typic  and  vocal  difficulties  are  avoided  by  representing  each  of  these 
diphthongs,  at  least  for  the  present  generation,  by  a  single  letter.  Oio, 
as  in  our,  town,  is  also  variously  pronounced  ;  its  initial  element  being, 
approximately,  ah-oo,  or  aw-oo.  It  is  therefore  advisable  to  allow  the 
digraph  otu,  its  most  customary  representation,  to  stand  for  this  glide. 

Letters  indicate  definite  sounds  in  quality,  not  quantity.  We  avail 
ourselves  of  this  distinction  to  interest  the  child  in  pronouncing  the  ele- 
mentary sounds  with  varying  and  increasing  degrees  of  intensity,  as  shown 
on  page  76.  This  exercise  should  embrace  all  the  sounds  of  the  lan- 
guage, till  they  can  be  given  with  clearness  and  precision.  The  teacher 
must  be  careful  not  to  permit  a  preceding  aspirate  (h)  to  be  heard  before 
the  voicels,  instead  of  a  clear  and  forcible  enunciation  of  the  pure  voiced 
sounds.  An  excellent  exercise  in  modulation  is  to  pronounce  the  long 
vowels  and  diphthongs  with  varying  degrees  of  intensity,  first  with  a  fall- 
ing, then  with  a  rising  inflection,  or  better  still  with  a  circumflex.  Vocal 
exercises  of  this  kind  will  alone  prevent  the  habitual  monotony  of  tone  so 
often,  and  so  unpleasantly  heard  in  American  speech. 

7 


'h'rnrrt  the  very  beginning   English 
has  ever   been   striving   to   make   its:] 
jorthography   represent   its   pronunci- 
afinn    more   or    less  accurately" 


tMvMI 


um 


Among  the  new  and  important  features  of  this  presentation  of  a 
Scientific  Alphabet,  are  the  following  : 

It  teaches  the  child  the  elementary  Sounds  of  speech  liy  an  Aljjhahet 
in  which  there  is  no  varying  of  the  powers  of  letters,  nor  contradiction 
in  their  use,  so  that  Reading  and  Spelling  are  made  easy  and  pleasant  of 
ac(juirement. 

It  wholly  avoids  the  difficulties,  time-wasting  perplexities,  and,  what 
Lord  Lytton  calls,  the  "  lying"  of  our  lawless  spelling  ;  and  the  teacher 
has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  child,  when,  from  the  first,  it  is 
taught  the  Truth,  that  is,  an  unvarying  representation  of  the  sounds  of 
language,  it  will  instinctively  and  easily  interpret  it  on  all  occasions. 

It  gives  no  Pictures  of  Objects  in  this  Child's  First  Reader,  where 
the  attention  of  the  learner  is  now  to  be  centered  on  a  new  kind  of  pic- 
ture— distinct  and  important  little  pictures  of  Sounds,  which  when  placed 
together,  make  Words,  that  are  the  Names  of  real  objects,  having  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  Pictorial  representation  of  things. 

It  presents  but  a  single  page  at  each  opening  of  the  book  for  the  eye 
and  mind  of  the  child.  Interest  and  concentration  are  thus  secured  on 
the  lesson  for  the  day  ;  to  this  end  each  page  of  the  book  is  made  as  dis- 
tinct, attractive,  and  impressive  as  possible. 

It  aflords  the  shortest  and  easiest  way  of  learning  to  read,  so  that 
when  the  child  can  read  English,  thus  presented,  with  some  degree  of 
ease,  it  is  able,  with  a  little  guessing,  to  read  a  page  of  ordinary  spelling  ; 
it  is  best  therefore,  to  begin  with  the  Phonetic  method. 

Rightly  understood,  the  teaching  of  reading  means  something  more 
than  imparting  a  knowledge  of  letters  and  their  powers.  It  should  in- 
clude drill  in  correct  enunciation,  and  proper  modulation  of  the  voice.  A 
suggestive  hint  in  this  direction  is  given  on  page  75. 


'The  adoption  of  the  English  laiv^<i^'  'fe.    " 


and  dependencies  is  important  and] 
imperative."  Edward  Jones 


S<5!St:S  l^€. 


The  left  hand  page  of  each  opening  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  Num- 
bers, and  the  Figures  by  which  they  are  represented.  The  pages,  as 
numbered,  aided  by  the  teacher's  upturned  fingers,  may  be  used  to  teach 
Numeration  and  simple  problems  in  all  four  of  the  rules  of  arithmetic,  all 
of  which  should  precede  the  memorizing  of  Tables  of  numbers. 

When  a  child  is  old  enough  to  learn  to  read,  and  to  observe  the 
forms  of  letters,  it  is  time  for  it  to  begin  to  draw,  that  is,  to  trace  out- 
lines of  letters,  numerals,  and  such  simple,  geometrical  forms  as  abound 
in  this  book.  Page  77  is  to  be  looked  at,  and  explained,  and  then 
drawn.  A  child  is  benefited  by  having  its  mind,  eye,  and  hand  exercised 
in  the  endeavor  to  realize  the  undeviating  truth  of  a  right  line,  of  parallel 
lines,  of  the  arc  of  a  circle  ;  correctly  to  divide  a  given  line  into  two  or 
more  parts,  to  draw  a  right  angle,  and  to  name  and  trace  the  outlines  of 
such  simple,  geometrical  figures  as  are  here  presented.  These  exercises 
should  be  continued  and  drawn  in  varied  lengths  and  sizes  till  they  can 
be  executed  with  some  degree  of  accuracy.  Then,  but  not  before,  should 
the  child  be  encouraged  to  draw  the  outlines  of  objects.  This  will  be  the 
only  drawing-book  required  to  develop  an  observing  eye  and  an  expert, 
possibly  an  artistic,  hand. 

The  advance  towards  a  satisfactory  representation  of  English  here 
presented,  is  the  result  of  sixty-six  years  of  continuous  thought,  teaching, 
and  experiment, — experiments  critically  conducted,  on  a  large  scale,  and 
embracing  all  ranks  of  English  and  American  society.  The  special  claim 
for  this  representation  is,  that  while  it  is  sufficiently  scientific  to  satisfy  the 
phonetician,  it  is  free  from  the  charge  of  novelty,  and  so  little  does  it 
ignore  the  eye-trained  habit  of  the  reader  of  English  as  now  presented, 
that  it  is  more  likely  to  be  generally  welcomed  than  any  of  the  schemes  of 
reform  heretofore  offered ;— schemes  that,  as  a  rule,  but  mirror  the  idio- 
syncrasies of  the  authors. 

9 


A  scientiHc  alphabet,  "a  sign  for  a  sound,"  was  earnestly  contented 
for  by  Sir  Isaac  Pitman,  and  Dr.  Alexander  J.  Ellis,  as  the  basis  of  their 
scheme.  Experience  has  shown  that  this  is  too  radical  a  change  to  be 
accepted  by  the  present  generation. 

Schemes  of  "Amended  Spelling,"  proposed  by  the  English  "Spell- 
ing Reform  Association,"  and  the  "American  Philological  Association," 
have  done  good  service  in  calling  attention  to  the  unphonetic  character  of 
modern  spelling,  these  associations  have  advised  specific  changes  in  a 
phonetic  direction,  such  as  dropping  useless  letters,  writing  hav  ior  have, 
toisht  for  wished,  thru  for  through,  etc. ;  but  the  present  orthography 
cannot  be  reformed  on  these  lines.  The  only  possible  remedy  is  to  supply 
an  efficient,  working  Alphabet.  To  continue  to  spell  by,  yet,  pity,  instead 
of  b'l,  yet,  pili,  using  j'  for  three  unlike  sounds,  would  be  a  concession  to 
present  custom  that  would  be  a  puzzle  and  an  inconsistency  to  every  child 
of  the  future,  who  might,  with  good  reason,  resent  it  as  confusing  and 
unnecessary. 

A  scheme  such  as  Alexander  M.  Bell's  "Visible  Speech," — pho- 
netically the  most  accurate  and  philosophic  ever  devised,  and  deemed 
of  sufficient  importance  to  be  used  as  a  key  to  sounds  in  the  Standard 
Dictionary — is  so  unsatisfactory  to  the  eye,  trained  to  the  classic  simplicity 
of  Roman  forms,  that  of  all  improved  methods,  it  is  probably  the  least 
likely  ever  to  be  generally  accepted. 

Illustration. 

SOUNDS     ANU  IHElk  RELATIONS 


Any   scheme  that  introduces  even   a  few   new   letters  of  uncouth 
shape,    whose  place  can  be    supplied   more   satisfactorily   by  forms  at 

lo 


present  in  use, — by  a  few  vowels  diacritically  marked,  and  by  the  use  of 
digraphs  such  asrA,  sh,  th,  etc.,  to  which  are  attached  uniform  sounds — , 
will  never  be  likely  to  be  generally  accepted. 

A  scheme  like  that  presented  in  these  pages,  to  which  the  fewest 
objections  can  be  urged  on  the  score  of  change,  but  which  successfully 
bridges  the  difficulty  of  our  present  unsatisfactory,  time-wasting  orthog- 
raphy, will  prove  a  national  blessing  in  the  degree  in  which  it  is  adopted. 

EXPLANATORY  NOTE. 

In  this  First  Reader  the  child  is  taught  that  each  separate  sound  of 
its  talk  is  represented  by  a  Letter,  and  it  will  naturally  suppose,  by  only 
one.  In  the  last  two  pages  the  new  fact  is  brought  to  the  child's  atten- 
tion, that,  for  certain  reasons,  afterwards  to  be  explained,  each  sound  is 
also  pictured  by  a  larger  sign,  generally  of  a  somewhat  different  and  more 
stately  shape,  and  that  such  letters  are  called  CAPITALS.  These  letters 
will  be  introduced  in  the  Second  Reader  and  their  uses  shown. 

Attached  to  the  figures  employed  for  paging  this  book,  are  certain 
designs,  intended  merely  to  give  an  idea  of  importance  to  the  signs  em- 
ployed for  Numbers,  for  it  will  probably  seem  to  the  child  quite  wonderful 
that  the  simple  little  picture,  looo,  for  example,  stands  for  the  idea  of  a 
thousand  things!  The  following  numbered  illustrations  may  need  ex- 
planation. 

2.    Cipher  B.  P.  42.    Saracenic  design. 

8.    Roman  Acanthus  leaf.  50.    Succory  leaf  and  flower. 

10.  Chinese  plant.  60.   Wild  Parsley  leaf. 

12.   Conventional  design.  62.    Wild  Parsnip  leaf. 

14.  Narcissus  flower.  64.   Cleopatra's  signature. 

18.   Japan  Fern  leaves.  66.    Cuneiform  writing. 

20.   Celery  leaf.  68.   Chinese  writing. 

22.   Wild  Parsnip  flower.  70.    Persian  design. 

38.    Rosette;   Wild  weed.  72.    Acanthus  design. 


"NIVKRSITY  of  CAUFUKXtiA 
AT 
^  ANGELES 

..ilJRARY       ■ 


LAWYER 
'"^LLAS/IEJLU 


^^^^ 


i.f£«ir: -;;._.       ;H   :.■ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 

ftB4    ^^'' 
NOV  2  0  1964 

TWO  W/f K.SJRQW  DATE  OF 

NON-RUbfiBis  195^ 

.   7|3   9ll0lll(iP|i  f9|o, 

JAN  1  2  1987 

SEP  28  1 
MOV  5  »»* 

Form  L9-25»n-9,'47(A5G18)4 

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3   1158  00092  5080 


